Susan J. Terrio, Whose Child Am I? Unaccompanied, Undocumented Children in U.S. Immigration Custody

Authors

Francisco J. Alatorre, New Mexico State University

Abstract

"Whose Child Am I? is by Susan Terrio, Professor of Anthropology at Georgetown and author of two other books about issues of juvenile delinquency. Focusing on the wretched and dangerous experiences of Latino youth desperately traveling to and reaching El Norte, and then experiencing detention and incarceration, Terrio interrogates the American dream and American ideals of inclusion, as both are seriously abused in this international transborder tragedy. Terrio conducts her inquiry into how undocumented children are sent north, how they survive, and what happens to them by relating the process chronologically. She describes the children finding their way “home” in dangerous travels, being detained and placed in federal custody, living in custody, being released, and then finally being tried in immigration court. This process is framed by two chapters titled “The American Dream” and “The New American Story.” In between are accounts of these youthful travelers, interwoven with an assessment of the failures and successes of the federal agencies swamped with the youthful immigrants. Terrio argues that these children are victims of violence in their homelands and then victims of the courts and federal agencies in the United States, which are understaffed and conflicting in priorities. Her ultimate point is that immigration procedures need reforming so that they no longer contribute to the already overwhelming humanitarian tragedy. Her beliefs, ideas, and tone are the clear result of her research methodology: five years of on-site ethnographic research along with in-depth archival research on the identification, treatment, and representation of Unaccompanied Alien Children in the United States."

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.

Recommended Citation

Alatorre, Francisco J. (2016) "Susan J. Terrio, Whose Child Am I? Unaccompanied, Undocumented Children in U.S. Immigration Custody," Qualitative Criminology (QC): Vol. 4: No. 2, Article 8.
Available at: https://dc.swosu.edu/qc/vol4/iss2/8